How The Jury In Porter’s Trial Voted

William G. Porter was the first of the Baltimore 6 to be tried in the death of Freddie Gray. Judge Barry G. Williams declared a mistrial because the jury hung on all four charges.

The Baltimore Sun reports that legal experts say the information on how the jury voted is critical to understanding the process now playing out as prosecutors and Porter’s defense attorneys prepare for his scheduled retrial in June. The information also could help shape legal strategies in the pending cases against the other five police officers charged in Gray’s April arrest and death.

A gag order prevents prosecutors and defense attorneys from discussing the case,but one juror agreed to be interviewed. That one juror said that some were driven to tears during deliberations.

The jury was one vote from acquitting Porter on manslaughter. They voted 8-2 in favor of acquittal on second-degree assault, with two jurors undecided. Seven jurors were in favor of convicting Porter on reckless endangerment. Two jurors were undecided. Eleven voted in favor of conviction on the charge of misconduct in office. One juror was undecided.

The anonymous juror said that the jury changed their votes multiple times during deliberations. For instance, a few more jurors wanted to convict Porter of manslaughter at the start of deliberations but changed their minds.

Freddie did not receive the medical help he needed. The Porter jury must have understood this. I wonder upon whom the individual jury members placed the blame for not procuring the needed medical attention for Freddie. We will probably never know the jury’s thoughts on this.

Exactly. Trust me, notes were taken by the DA’s office and they know the exact angle to pursue to try to get the conviction the 2nd time around. All of the cards have now been placed on the table and just hopefully…. Freddie Gray will be able to REST IN PEACE!!!

I am so sorry for the terrible injury that Mr. Patel received…he had done nothing wrong.
I ache for him and pray that he will recover.

So, Judge Haikala acquitted the officer after two trials ended with deadlocked juries.

Haikala ruled Wednesday that after “two full and fair chances to obtain a conviction,” government prosecutors “will not have another.”

“The result in this case is by no means satisfying,” Judge Haikala wrote in her 92-page opinion. “Hindsight brings clarity to a calamity. Mr. Patel’s celebrated arrival in this country to begin a new life with his son was interrupted in two tragic minutes. If Mr. Parker or Mr. Patel could take that time back, both would surely do things differently and avoid the events that have forever changed both of their lives.

“However, that injury, standing alone, does not provide the basis for a criminal judgment against Mr. Parker under 18 U.S.C. § 242,” Haikala continued. “The law presumes Mr. Parker’s innocence, and the evidence in the record from two trials does not eliminate reasonable doubt as to Mr. Parker’s guilt.”

The prosecutor, U.S. attorney Joyce Vance responded to the judge’s ruling by saying

the evidence was sufficient for a retrial.

“Where you were born shouldn’t change how you are treated by the police,” Vance said, according to WHNT. “Everyone in this country must be able to trust law enforcement. We remain committed to prosecuting those few officers who cross the line and use unreasonable force.”

An attorney for Michael Slager asked a judge Friday to block the public from viewing the names of people who supported the former North Charleston police officer’s bid for bail.

The motion by lawyer Cameron Blazer seeks to seal the names of the people who wrote character letters about Slager when he first requested bail in September. The measure was filed in response to a S.C. Freedom of Information Act request by The Post and Courier for copies of the documents that the defense team sent directly to the judge presiding over Slager’s prosecution.

The documents could further gauge Slager’s support among current officers at the North Charleston Police Department and other area public officials.